Do you know how to say "east" or "southwest" in Spanish? In this lesson, we will learn how to spell and say the names of the four cardinal directions in Spanish as well as the intermediate, or ordinal directions. Let's take a look.

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The 4 Cardinal Directions in Spanish

First things first: The cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are known in Spanish as los puntos cardinales. Let's learn the names and pronunciations of the four cardinal directions in Spanish:

North (el norte)

En el norte de España.

In the north of Spain.

Caption 48, Aprendiendo con Silvia - Deportes tradicionales canarios

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East (el este)

¡Ah! Y en el este lloverá. 

Oh! And, in the east, it will rain.

Caption 24, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 5: Ha nacido una estrella

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South (el sur)

En el sur, por ejemplo, existe la cultura maya.

In the south, for example, there's the Mayan culture.

Caption 13, Hispanoamericanos en Berlín - Manuel y El barrilito

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West (el oeste)

San Pedro está situado en el oeste del canal de entrada a la bahía.

San Pedro is located in the west of the entrance channel to the bay.

Caption 34, Viajando con Fermín - Pasajes (Pasaia)

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The 4 Ordinal Directions in Spanish

Now that we know how say the four cardinal directions in Spanish, it is time to find out the words for the four ordinal directions, which are known in Spanish as los puntos ordinales. By the way, because they are located between the cardinal directions, these are also known as las direcciones intercardinales (the intercardinal directions). 

Northeast (el noreste)

En el noreste de México.

In the northeast of Mexico.

Caption 34, Paseando con Karen - Bienvenidos a Parque Fundidora

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Southeast (el sudeste)

Eh... Son plantas, eh... la mayoría,

Um... They're plants [that are], um... the majority,

originarias todas del sudeste asiático.

all native to Southeast Asia.

Caption 88, Estepona - Orquídeas y plantas raras

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Southwest (el sudoeste)

Popayán es una ciudad que está ubicada

Popayan is a city that is located

en el sudoeste de Colombia.

in the southwest of Colombia.

Caption 3, Viajando con Carlos - Popayán - Colombia

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Northwest (el noroeste)

Caminaron un rato hacia el noroeste.

They walked northwest for a while.

Caption 8, Pigueldito y Federico - Ordenar

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When referring to "southeast" and "southwest," you can also use the terms sureste and suroeste (with the prefix sur-) instead of sudeste and sudoeste. However, the Real Academia Española prefers the variations with the prefix sud-. 

That's all for now. We hope you learned something useful today, and don't forget to send us your suggestions and comments.

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Do you know the difference between the present indicative and the present subjunctive moods in Spanish? Most simply put, the indicative depicts certainty and objectivity while the subjunctive describes doubt and subjectivity. If you would like to learn about or brush up on these concepts, we suggest lessons from Yabla's Spanish lesson archives on how to use the Spanish present indicative and when to use the Spanish subjunctive, and when you feel ready, test your knowledge with this quiz!

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Present Indicative vs. Subjunctive: Fill in the Blank

In the following sentences, choose the correct present indicative or subjunctive verb to fill in the blank. 

1. David ____ al gimnasio todos los días.

a. va

b. vaya

2.  Espero que María ______ a la fiesta; hace mucho que no la veo. 

a. viene

b. venga

3. Nos alegra mucho de que ____ aquí.

a. estás

b. estés

4. Juan _____ ahora mismo. 

5. Juan estudió muy poco para el examen. Dudo que _____ una buena nota. 

a. saca

b. saque

6. Todos nos vemos afectados por la sequía. Ojalá que ______ pronto. 

a. llueve

b. llueva

7.  Yo te _____ mañana. 

a. llamo

b. llame

8. Los planetas _____ alrededor del sol.

a. giran

b. giren

9. Si quieres ser músico profesional, es muy importante que __________ mucho. 

a. practicas

b. practiques 

10. Recomiendo que _________ Barcelona durante nuestro viaje a España.

a. visitamos

b. visitemos 

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Bonus Round

These tougher bonus round questions include more than one verb in the present indicative and/or subjunctive mood(s), as well more options. Are you ready?! 

11. Yo ______ que Manuel me ______ a la fiesta.

a. quiero, invita

b. quiera, invite

c. quiero, invite

d. quiera, invita

12. Mariela _____ muchas ganas de conocer Brazil. Es seguro que _____ ahí este verano. 

a. tiene, viaja

b. tenga, viaje

c. tiene, viaje

d. tenga, viaja

13. No creo que _______ al evento. Todos ________ muy enfermos. 

a. asistimos, estamos

b. asistamos, estemos

c. asistimos, estemos

d. asistamos, estamos

14. _______ en contacto. Nos _____ pronto. 

a. Estamos, vemos

b. Estemos, veamos

c. Estamos, veamos

d. Estemos, vemos

15. Te ____ que me _____ la verdad, que siempre ____ sincero conmigo. 

a. pido, dices, eres

b. pida, digas, seas

c. pido, digas, seas

d. pida, dices, seas

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Present Indicative vs. Subjunctive Quiz: The Answers

The following are the answers to all of the questions in this Present Indicative vs. Subjunctive Quiz as well as the translations and grammatical justifications for each. 

That's all for this quiz. How did you do?! To better understand the various uses of the Spanish present indicative and subjunctive, we have a plethora of lessons and videos in our archives to assist you! For starters, try Clase Aula Azul's series Pedir deseos (Making Wishes) and Información con subjuntivo e indicativo (Information with Subjunctive and Indicative), Ana Carolina's El modo subjuntivo (The Subjunctive Mood), and Doctora Consejos (Doctor Advice) videos like Subjuntivo y sentimientos (Subjunctive and Feelings) and Subjuntivo y persona ideal (Subjunctive and Ideal Person). In the meantime, we hope you've enjoyed this Present Indicative vs. Subjunctive Quiz, and don't forget to write us with your questions and comments.

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The Spanish conjunction aunque, whose English translations include "although," "even though," "even if," etc., often appears within the constructions aunque + present indicative and aunque + present subjunctive. Although sentences that include said constructions are often structurally similar, the use of either the indicative or the subjunctive with aunque affects their meaning. Additionally (and as usual in Spanish!), the subjunctive construction is slightly more challenging since the meaning of the same sentence could vary depending upon context. Let's take a closer look.

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Aunque + Present Indicative

Aunque + present indicative is used to state facts and is a pretty straight-forward equivalent of similarly truth-stating English sentences with "although" and "even though." Let's see some examples:

aunque terminan en "a", son realmente palabras masculinas.

although they end in "a," they are really masculine words.

Caption 22, Lecciones con Carolina Errores comunes - Part 6

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Aunque es checa la canción, el tema, eh... en Berlín, en Alemania creen [sic] mucha gente que es alemán.

Although the song, the tune, is Czech, um... in Berlin, in Germany, a lot of people think it's German.

Captions 48-49, Hispanoamericanos en Berlín Manuel y El barrilito

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Aunque + Present Subjunctive

In contrast to aunque + present indicative, aunque + present subjunctive conveys different meanings and is used in two different scenarios: 1. In hypothetical situations and 2. When the information being communicated is considered "background information" that the audience already knows. 

Aunque + Present Subjunctive for Hypothetical Situations

In order to understand how the use of the subjunctive with aunque changes the meaning of a sentence, let's take the third example of aunque + present indicative and replace it with aunque + present subjunctive:

Bueno, hay que ser optimista, aunque tenga la impresión de que no me van a dar el trabajo. 

Well, one has to be optimistic, even if I might have the impression that they are not going to give me the job.

The subjunctive version conveys something different than its indicative counterpart because, rather than explicitly stating her impression after a specific job interview, the speaker says more generally that "even though she might have" a particular impression following an interview, she should remain optimistic. Let's take a look at some additional examples of this use of aunque + present subjunctive from the Yabla Spanish library:  

Aunque sea sólo para un fin de semana, para mí, tiene las características esenciales para disfrutar de un viaje,

Even if it's only for a weekend, for me, it has the essential characteristics for enjoying a trip,

Captions 47-49, Lydia de Barcelona Lydia y el festival de cine "Women Mujeres"

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Here, Lydia is saying to an audience of potential tourists to Barcelona that, hypothetically speaking, a visit would be worth it even if they might only have one free weekend. On the other hand, the indicative "Aunque es sólo para un fin de semana" would be used for someone you knew was only visiting Barcelona for one weekend. This is sometimes confusing for English speakers since the phrase "Even if it's only for a weekend" could refer to either situation and is thus a valid translation for both the indicative and subjunctive versions of the sentence. Let's look at one more example:

Aunque no crean, existe el amor a primera vista.

Believe it or not, love at first sight does exist.

Caption 56, El reencuentro Las amigas hablan del trabajo y el amor.

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While Aunque no crean is the Spanish equivalent of the English idiom "Believe it or not," a more literal translation is "Even though you might not believe it" since we don't know whether or not the audience does. 

Aunque + Present Subjunctive for Background Information

Now, let's examine a use of aunque + present subjunctive that might initially seem confusing:

Os recuerdo que las islas Canarias, aunque estén en el océano Atlántico y muy cerca de la costa africana,

I remind you that the Canary Islands, although they're in the Atlantic Ocean and very close to the African coast,

Captions 4-6, Aprendiendo con Silvia Deportes tradicionales canarios - Part 1

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Since what Silvia is saying is a fact (the Canary Islands are most definitely located in the Atlantic Ocean, close to Africa), why does she use the subjunctive? This is because aunque + present subjunctive is also used when the speaker assumes that their audience already knows the information being stated. 

To sum it up: Use the indicative when you want to inform someone about something that you assume is new information for them, and use the subjunctive to say things you believe the receiver already knows. Let's see another example of this use: 

Aunque San Sebastián tenga tres playas, yo siempre hago surf en la Zurriola.

Even though San Sebastian has three beaches, I always surf at Zurriola.

Captions 16-17, Clase Aula Azul Información con subjuntivo e indicativo - Part 2

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As seen here, even if it's a fact that San Sebastián has three beaches, you'd employ the subjunctive tenga for a person you think knows this information and the indicative tiene for a person you believe to be learning it, despite identical English translations. For a detailed explanation of this use of aunque + present subjunctive with a plethora of examples, check out the video series Clase Aula Azul: Información con subjuntivo e indicativo (Aula Azul Class: Information with Subjunctive and Indicative).

Ambiguity with the Aunque + Subjunctive Construction

Sometimes, the meaning of an aunque + subjunctive sentence is ambiguous and, without context, might be impossible to ascertain. Let's take a look at an example that could be understood in more than one way: 

Aunque haga calor, yo voy a usar mi chaqueta nueva. 

On its face, this sentence could have two possible meanings:

1. Even though it might be hot (hypothetically on some particular day in the future), I'm going to wear my new jacket.

2. Even though it (really) is hot (and I know you know it's hot), I'm going to wear my new jacket.

In the second scenario, we assume that the person with whom we are speaking already knows the information; perhaps they are sitting there sweating with us, or maybe they called you to complain about the heat: The main point is that we believe that this is shared information. To determine, however, which of the two aforementioned meanings is intended, context is required, and there may be cases where it could seem to go either way. 

In conclusion, aunque sea el concepto un poco difícil (although the concept might be a bit difficult), we hope that this lesson has made clear to you when to use the constructions aunque + present indicative and aunque + present subjunctive... and don't forget to send us your suggestions and comments!

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